![]() ![]() Malta may be small, and Valletta is the European Union’s smallest capital, but there’s plenty of culture, ancient and modern, high and popular, awaiting the visitor in 2018’s ‘year-long festa’-and indeed at any time. ![]() The city came alive during the official Valletta 2018 inauguration. The ‘Valletta 2018’ logo settles on the grand cathedral door, and confetti flutters from the sky, both actual and on-screen. John fades in and the crowd lets out breath. Finally, a gargantuan Maltese Cross of the Knights of St. The statue gives way to a kaleidoscope of medieval palazzo doorways-and a jamming rock guitarist, a nod to the country’s music scene.įish shimmer and swirl back and forth, before the entire building transforms into one glorious pattern of primary colors-the bright stripes of this island-nation’s traditional fishing boats. “Valletta 2018 is a success story before it has even started.”Ī figure of the ‘Sleeping Lady’ statue from Valletta’s National Museum of Archaeology flashes up on the limestone ‘screen.’ Created in the Neolithic period, the image honors one of the first cultures to leave a mark here with its unique Neolithic temples-older than the stone circle at Stonehenge. John’s Co-Cathedral is turned inside out, its plain façade momentarily decorated with a projection of its sparkling (and recently restored) golden Baroque interior. The square is sardine-packed-some 100,000 people are here for the opening and Malta’s population is only 450,000. An aerial view over Valetta, Malta, hints at the history that lies below its sandstone streets.īut as I look around me, even the most hardened press photographers are smiling. ![]()
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